Barbour: Build civil rights museum

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour wants state lawmakers to help him build a Civil Rights museum in downtown Jackson, as he attempts to move past rhetorical slip-ups that have landed him in hot water when he talks about issues of race.

Barbour, a two-term governor and potential GOP presidential candidate, made the appeal during his final state of the state address Tuesday evening, just a few weeks after he found himself on the defensive for comments that seemed to minimize the racial strife of southern segregation and the civil rights movement.

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“The civil rights struggle is an important part of our history, and millions of people are interested in learning more about it,” Barbour said Tuesday, in an address that was mostly dedicated to defining and defending the legacy of his administration.

“People from around the world would flock to see the museum and learn about the movement.” he said. “I urge you to move this museum forward as an appropriate way to do justice to the Civil Rights Movement and to stand as a monument of remembrance and reconciliation.”

Barbour said now is a good time to move forward on the museum project because this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s opening salvos. The museum project was first proposed in 2007, but stalled over location and funding issues.

During an interview with The Weekly Standard late last year, Barbour recalled the civil rights era as not being “that bad,” and credited white Citizens Councils in his hometown of Yazoo City for helping ease the process of school integration. Outcry was fierce against what many saw as a rose-colored interpretation of the country’s racial history and especially of the Citizens Councils, which Barbour later called “totally indefensible.”

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a close Barbour friend who is also mulling a presidential bid, also addressed his state’s lawmakers Tuesday night, boasting of Indiana’s triumphs in the face of a bleak national economy. He touted proposed education reforms that will be easier to enact after he oversaw a 2010 electoral sweep that handed Republicans full control of state government.

“We Hoosiers don’t like to wait when we can act,” Daniels said, referring to a “nationwide job hemorrhage” that had made his job harder.

Both Daniels and Barbour have said they won’t decide whether to launch national campaigns until their respective legislative sessions conclude in the spring.